Chapter 3

The princesses looked through the gate with an unfiltered look of shock. The guards in the throne room, however, took aggressive stances. Makarov pales slightly as his thoughts went rampant ‘Fuck!!!! Fuck, Fuck Fuck! Shit, what did I just fucking do! I’m dead. Why don’t I ever think before I do shit like this… Wait, just take a deep breath.’ Makarov took a deep, steadying breath and spoke “You can call off the guards, I just figured that you would prefer to watch up close, rather than through a small hand mirror. He put a gentle smile on his face, but the inner turmoil continued. He prayed to a god he didn’t believe in ‘For the love of all things good, let my bluff skill work here.’

The white mare held her hand up and spoke “It is fine my little ponies. I think I will take him up on his offer to watch closer. I will be fine. Would you like to join me, Luna?” She looked at the mare to her right, slightly shorter, but just as regal. She looked me over and shrugged. “Why not? It shall amuse us to see one such as this who claims the title of Makarov, flounder at the sight of true power.”

Makarov’s eyes narrowed, if there was one thing that he really didn’t care for, it was people that insulted his hard work. And when it came to hard work, his skill with magic was second to none. Bowing slightly he spoke again “Very well your majesties, feel free to pass through the gate, it is quite safe I assure you.” The princesses stood and walked toward the gate that had opened in the middle of their throne room. They approached, at first with mild apprehension. Princess Celestia was the first one to pass through. As she arrived unharmed on the opposite side, Luna moved as well.

Once they had both arrived, Makarov dropped the spell and the arch dissolved away leaving no indication that it had been there moments before. Thinking to himself for a moment, he recalled that in a lot of the stories and games that he had read, played, and watched. The protagonist in the stories hid their power until they had to use it. Is some kind of ill-fated attempt at living a normal life, but more often than not, it came back to bite them in the ass. He figured that he might as well start things off with a bang. Thinking that if it really got to be that bad, he could always teleport away and find somewhere else to live. And best case scenario, this was an incredibly peaceful place where he would be able to study.

Taking the risk, he turned to the three women. Bowing before them with a bit of a flourish he spoke “I welcome you to this demonstration. However, I find this location to be ill-suited to what I wish to show you. If you wait for just a moment, I can relocate us to somewhere more appropriate for the true demonstration.” Turning around, the gem on the staff again lit as a new gateway began to form {Mythic Gate}. As it took form, the scene through the gate was that of an arid badland, the same badland that Makarov found himself in when he first arrived. Casually stepping through, he beckoned them to follow him.

The small group followed behind and looked out with wonder at the environment around them. Twilight spoke first “Where is this place? The southern badlands are hundreds of kilometers away.”

Celestia spoke with a hushed tone “These are not the southern Badlands my student. This place is far older. Her eyes turned to the mysterious man as she watched him prepare for whatever he was going to do. She had the strangest feeling that he was familiar to her. Very familiar. Twilight walked up to her and placed her hand on her arm “What do you mean Princess? Older than the badlands?”

Looking down at the young mare, Princess Celestia smiled “This was once a Precursor city my student. It has been a very long time since I was here last. Since before the Cataclysm.”

Makarov had been preparing his spell but had managed to overhear what had been said. As he got together the material components for the spell, he thought to himself ‘well then, some kind of precursor group. That sounds interesting. Oh well, let’s get his show running.’ turning back to the group he spread his arms and smiled. “This is going to take a bit to get going, but please stay back.” Turning to face the vast plane, Makarov pulled his arms from the sleeves of his robes and allowed them to fall off his upper body, exposing his back and chest. Holding his staff horizontally in the air over a large bag of seeds he had placed at his feet, he put his opposite hand on top and began the spell.

The princesses and student jumped back as a giant glowing ring formed beneath the strange man. The air began to charge with magic, small sparks starting to peel off of the mage as he worked through the spell. The intricate designs glowed with power, Twilight’s eyes had been glued to the circle since its appearance, the magic being used here was almost nothing like the magic she had been using her entire life. It pulsed with the energy of life itself. The magical matrices and fractals compressing in on each other, every one compounding on the one prior and expanding and directing its power to specific focal points. Not even in the history books and diagrams left by Starswirl the Bearded, the Mage who had been said to have been the closest possible to the glory of the Precursors had come close to this. Finally managing to tear her eyes away from the circle on the ground, she beheld the one that hovered behind his back. But even that pales in comparison to the mark on his back. The mark of pure magic, the symbol of the Precursors themselves the Compass Rose. Tears began to fall as she looked at the magic he held.

The princesses were likewise silent, the very planet shook to its core at this magic. Celestia looked down at Luna, who returned her gaze. “T-Tia, w-we know this Magic…” Her gaze returned to the strange Stallion. Her eyes lingered on the Compass Rose that was etched into his flesh. A wave of magic washed over her as the entire thing began to change.

Makarov smirked, This was the first Creator class spell that he had ever created. It was the spell that had earned him his mark. And of course, it was considered a healing spell. After all, when experimenting with highly dangerous magic, the first thing any smart wizard should think about is fixing any injuries they may cause themselves. Time seemed to move in slow motion as each ring of magic fired in order before him. Creator class magic was not something that many had ever been granted access to. Even after spending thousands of hours on getting it right, on actually being capable of using it in battle was a feat in and of itself. There were specific requirements to getting one of these spells off. First, the caster was unable to move during the entire cast, second, creator class spells all had cast times above fifteen seconds, third, they cost XP to use This specific spell cost one-quarter of a level's worth, and fourth, they took material components as well.

In this case, he had a large bag of various seeds, all of which he had gathered from his time playing the game. Once he hit the twenty-second mark, he set his gaze and spoke {Cry of Artemis: Bloom} rotating his staff to a vertical position, he rammed it down, the butt connecting with the ground as a bright flash of light exploded out. The air behind him shimmered as a gargantuan woman clad in armor, a golden bow held in her hands, rose to stand over him. Looking up she pulled back the bow, the creaking filling the air as a massive amount of pressure built before being let loose. As the dart sped into the air, the gigantic woman let loose a war cry, something that lit a fire in the breasts of the mare that stood with him, as if they could fight an unending horde of enemies with nothing but their bare fists. But it was not over, the dart seemed to have reached its apex, before bursting in the air.

A golden mist fell around them, and where it hit the packed, dead earth, fertile soil was left behind. The field of that once held nothing but the dry sent of death, now gave way to the sent of good hearty land that had been cultivated, for one thing, growth. The bag at Makarov’s feet burst as the little seeds exploded with life. A wave of green exploded from his feet. Each new plant bursting and throwing seeds further out and causing more to burst forth. They all remained silent as the spread of life shot out from where they stood.

Looking out over the once dead plane, they now observed a paradise, untouched by development, pure. Hills, once nothing more than mounds of dirt, now stood with grown trees, covered in grass, creeks that had been dry for centuries now filled with water as it rushed to fill lakes long empty. And in the center of it all, stood a wizard. The shock of what had happened would have been too much for some, Even the princesses’ knees had gone a week. Twilight had lost the battle and now lie next to her mentor, completely knocked out by what she had seen.

Makarov just stood there with a blank look on his face, serene as he looked out over what he had done. His face a picture of calmness, it was, however, a mask. The only hint were the eyes that had spread wide ‘What the fuck was that!!!!!!! I don’t remember that spell having effects like that before! It never had a range like that before! And since when did it bring back water?!’ He was freaking out inside. The magic here was far beyond what he had been used to before. Steeling himself, he took a deep breath and turned to look at the mares, only to find something that made him even more nervous.

Twilight had passed out, and the two princesses were on their knees, tears running down their faces. “Um… Ta. Da! Hehe.” His mind had ground to a stop. He had no idea what was going to happen next, but he never expected what did.

“Master!!!!! You have returned!” He was hit by both princesses and knocked flat on his back. Now being crushed under the weight of two grown women, who for some strange reason had just called him master?

After fighting with them for a few moments, he managed to pull them off. They both sat back in a familiar seiza, which he found strange, thinking again he tried to rack his brains as to why they thought he was their master. Deciding to go for it he asked “I’m not sure what you mean when you say, Master. Do I know you two?”

The two of them looked at each other and dropped their heads, the dark princess spoke first “We are sorry master, we forgot ourselves, after all, it has been over seven thousand years since last we saw each other.” This really threw him for a loop. Realizing that he still wasn’t getting it, she continued. “We also look quite different from when you last saw us. Back then Celestia was only a Unicorn, and I a pegasus. We met here, in Citadel. Just over seven thousand years ago, before the great cataclysm. You trained us with a few others in the arts of the adventurer.”

That made Makarov freeze, Citadel was the central hub city in Quest Online, and he had spent quite a few times helping out at the Sacred Church of the sun and moon. This was the first spawn point for new players. He would often hang out here and help out the locals. Occasionally he would run into players that were really into the whole roleplay thing, so he just followed along with them. Being a high fantasy game world, it was common for players to choose to play a different race. Thinking back to a group that he had helped about six months ago. They had only spent two months playing as a group. They were good kids, and he was a sucker for helping out when new players were involved.

But what stood out to him, was the two girls that had been part of that group. One played as a light pink unicorn, and the other was a dark blue pegasus. They had been really into the RPG thing, even acting confused whenever he talking about downloading a movie or ordering food. But it was impossible that these two were the same people right. Besides, those had been players, so why would they call him Master? It didn’t make any kind of sense. Looking down at them he asked a crucial question while at the same time opening his menu to look at his friends list. “So did you go by different names then?”

The two of them blushed and nodded, Celestia answered for the both of them “I went by name Helios, Luna used to go by Selene” Makarov was stunned, there in his friends list, were the two grey names of Helios and Selene, but as they reviled their past names, they began to glow, indicating that they were online. Because name changes tended to be rather pricey, they came with an extra feature where unless you told people that you were changing your name, it would just appear that you never logged in again, but if you notify someone of the name change, your name will show up as online, under the old entry. That could have been the explanation as to why the names were greyed out. But what shook him more, was that he very seldom added friends. And it was rarer still that he kept the names in his lists.

Generally, he would add them during the time they were working together but then delete them afterward. But with these two it had been different, they had just been so vibrant and happy, he couldn’t bring himself to remove their names. He never worked up the courage to contact them, but seeing them online every day made him smile. Knowing they were okay and enjoying themselves. Looking over the Princesses, he was still hesitant, they knew the names, the menu had updated, but them being here, and showing no indication that they had been players was still suspicious. It was just too convenient “You claim to know me. And you know the names of two of my… students. But how can I know that you are telling me the truth? For all my knowledge, I have never been here before. I am curious to know why you seem to know these things.” Makarov took a steadying breath, attempting to calm his pulse down.

Thinking to himself again ‘As far as I can tell, this world is real. It has too many details to be a digital reconstruction. The way that everyone moves and speaks is too accurate, the citizens in the town were too densely packed to have all been rendered to that level. But if that is true, then how did these two end up here.’ He managed to pay enough attention to notice that Princess Luna had begun to speak “That is not surprising, the world you once knew has changed completely from what it was. There was a great Cataclysm that shook the very foundations of this realm. The ground split, the oceans boiled, and Chocolate Milk rained from the heavens.”

She had me right up to the last point, looking at her with confusion he asked “Chocolate Milk? Really? That just sounds stupid.”

It was at that point that a voice Makarov recognized spoke from behind him. “How rude. I never criticized your work, Marko.”

Quickly turning, Makarov turned to look and what he expected to be the head developer of Quest Online, Johnnie Laced. That was not who he saw. The twisted form that stood behind him held nothing of the chill looking older man that was the head developer of the largest DMMORPG on the planet, sans the goatee. Temporarily losing his ability to string together a coherent sentence, Makarov vomited “You. Strange. Snake noodle. Goatee?”

Discord looked over Makarov’s shoulder at the princesses behind him. “I think I might have broken the great Makarov. Love what he did with the place though, the whole badlands vibe was wearing thin after a few thousand years.”

Celestia looked at Discord with exasperation “Could you please abstain from breaking the mind of our mentor. We haven’t seen him in over seven thousand years. Must you ruin this.” She pouted, knowing that Discord had grown a weakness for it since the influence of Fluttershy.

Discord broke under the gaze “Fine, I’ll behave, besides this is a good time to leave anyway. Arrivederci.” Ripping his paw through the air, a plaid tear, in reality, opened up next to the strange thing. After bowing to the princesses as if he had given a grand performance, he was yanked through the rip by a shepherd’s crook.

After allowing his brain to do a full reboot, Makarov shouted out just as he left “Wait! Johnnie Laced, get back here you.” The strange thing turned to him at the name and grinned just as he was pulled into the rift. Realizing that it was no use, he dropped his hand and looked back at the Princesses. “What the nine hells was that thing?”

Princess Celestia grimaced. “That was Discord, Master. The god of chaos. He was the one that caused the great Cataclysm. We managed to reform him… somewhat, and now he keeps his chaos to minor pranks and helping to encourage forward movement.”

Makarov looked at her with a mild concern, “He caused an earth-shattering Cataclysm, potentially killed countless people… And you just let him run around? And stop calling me Master, It’s creeping me out. Just call me Makarov, please.”

Celestia smiled “Do not worry about it Makarov, Fluttershy has a good lockdown on him. He’s completely harmless for the most part. The worst you have to worry from him is a prank.”

Makarov stood there, completely still for a moment before sighing with his reply “That is the stupids idea I have ever heard of. And who in the nine hells is ‘Fluttershy?’”